The Nativity—a comparison.

How can we talk about the differences we see? How can we articulate the visual changes that separate the Medieval sense of space and form from the late Gothic sense of space and form? What language do we need to describe how artists begin to break away from the medieval sense of space and form? We need to look simultaneously at the articulation of the body and construction of the space which the figures inhabit. You will seem many similarities, but you will also notice significant differences. Ask yourself these questions: 1.How has the artist composed this scene? 2.Does the composition seem to have much depth? Is the space flat? Do the figures seem to inhabit a space that has three-dimensional depth? 3.As the viewer, how do you read the bodies? Is there a body underneath the drapery? Does the body seem naturalistic or decorative? Can you read the curves of the body underneath the drapery? Is the cloth responding to a body underneath the drapery? Giotto begins to create monumental forms which have weight and inhabit a seemingly realistic space. Giotto’s work both predicts the Renaissance and makes the Renaissance possible.

The Nativity Giovanni Pisano detail of pulpit, Pisa Cathedral

The Nativity Giotto di Bondone Arena Chapel Padua, Italy for the Scrovegni family c

Nativity Duccio di Buoninsegna Maesta Altarpiece Siena